Long-haul trips could be made in spaceships instead of planes in 20 years 'time if Virgin's efforts to commercialize space travel succeed, the president of Virgin Galactic told Reuters in an interview.

Later, after discovering writers like Elizabeth A. Lynn, I realized science fiction and fantasy was awesome not only because it had the cool trappings I liked (as in spaceships and telepathic dragons), but also because I could see myeslf reflected there ... even if I wasn't quite ready to claim my GLBT status.

The phrase "A long, long time ago" juxtaposed with the imagery of humans in spaceships, does seem to place the action in another strata or cycle of reality in this manner, a previous future long since past.